Getting a customer is not the end goal it’s the middle
Paul Dunay is an award-winning B2B marketing expert with more than 20 years’ success in generating demand and creating awareness for leading technology, consumer products, financial services and professional services organizations.
Paul is the global vice president of marketing for Maxymiser a leading web optimization firm, and author of four “Dummies” books: Facebook Marketing for Dummies (Wiley 2009), Social Media and the Contact Center for Dummies (Wiley Custom Publishing 2010), Facebook Advertising for Dummies (Wiley 2010) and Facebook Marketing for Dummies 2nd Edition (Wiley 2011).
His unique approach to marketing has led to recognition of Paul as a BtoB Magazine Top 25 B2B Marketer of the Year for 2010 and 2009 and winner of the DemandGen Award for Utilizing Marketing Automation to Fuel Corporate Growth in 2008. He is also a finalist for the last six years in a row in the Marketing Excellence Awards competition of the Information Technology Services Marketing Association (ITSMA), and is a 2010 and 2005 gold award winner in Driving Demand.
Buzz Marketing for Technology, Paul’s blog, has been recognized as a Top 20 Marketing Blog for 2009 and 2008, a Top Blog to Watch for 2009 and 2008, and an Advertising Age Power 150 blog in the “Daily Ranking of Marketing Blogs.”
Paul has shared his marketing thought leadership as a featured speaker for the American Marketing Association, BtoB Magazine, CMO Club, MarketingProfs, Marketing Sherpa, Marketing Executives Networking Group (MENG), and ITSMA. He has appeared on Fox News, and his articles have been featured in BusinessWeek, The New York Times, BtoB Magazine, MarketingProfs and MarketingSherpa.
Paul holds an Executive Certificate in Strategy and Innovation from MIT’s Sloan School of Management and a bachelor’s degree in Marketing and Computer Science from Ithaca College.
Paul: Joe Jaffe has been giving the same advice in his new book, Flip the Funnel. He argues that marketing and sales should be spending MORE time on their existing customers, the ones who are providing the bulk of the revenue!
The not-yet-sold-to customer is always the “next frontier,” but spend too much energy chasing them at the expense of keep existing clients happy and there will be a price to pay in the end.
Right on target, Paul. Why is customer service considered a cost center and marketing a revenue generator?
@Bryan – thanks for that – I have heard of Joe’s new book but havent dived into it yet – thanks for commenting
@Josh – that’s a great question – I guess its just years of branding customer service a cost center – when it could be (especially in B2B) a revenue generator! Thanks for commenting! and good luck with your new book!
Great reminder. I wonder how many people who just strive to get the customer are in complete agony when they lose the customer after a few weeks. Some companies are just revolving doors, and this is caused by seeing the gaining of new customers as the end.
“The role of the B2B Marketer has changed over the last 10 years” I definitely agree with this. Great post I learn more every time I read your info.
Hi Paul – Great insight! While in general I agree, our company efforts are overweight on the retention side and we’re not doing enough on the acquisition side.
I think sales people have understood this for a while, but I’m not sure they invest as heavily in “account management” as they do pure sales–closing the deal. To retain customers, the sales and marketing organizations have to be more closely aligned and have to work together to understand customers’ needs now and and anticipate their future wants. It’s an investment in time–as you say, up to 18 months of work–and in culture–you can’t silo the responsibilities into purely lead gen (marketing) and closing the deal (sales).
Nice post Paul and sounds like a stimulating presentation at the ITSMA conference. For that matter why stop with buying and retention (continuing to buy)? Happy customers can continue to contribute to marketing efforts– and a company’s bottom line–by participating in reference programs, communities, advisory boards, executive-level relationships, etc.
Customer retention is huge, sure many consider their goal getting a customer, but how do you keep them coming back? Great customer service for one, and keeping yourself, your brand out in their eyes through various channels is the second way. Social media is a great way to do so whether they follow you on twitter, are a fan on facebook, you need to make sure you keep up and give back to them through those channels.